The Smart Call Prospecting Call Opening

byArt Sobczak

Over the years I have written and spoken hundreds of thousands of words about the importance of the interest-creating opening statement. And the of Smart Calling™ is gathering intelligence before the call about your prospect and customer, using online and offline sources, and Social Engineering, which is asking questions of other people in the organization.

Let’s assume you have now done all of this information-gathering, you know something relevant about your prospecting, and now it is time to craft an opening that will grab attention. By the way, this also serves as a voice mail message, with just a bit of tweaking at the end.

The Smart Call™ Interest-Creating Opening Statement Process

It’s time to pull everything together with the step-by-step opening statement process. Here’s how:

1. Introduce Yourself and Organization

“Hi ____, I’m ___ with _____.” Easy so far.

2. Use Your Smart Call™ Intelligence

Here, you employ something you know that implies you are not the typical cold caller; the more tailored and on-target, the better.

“I was speaking with________ and she mentioned that you are now in the process of______.”

“Congratulations on the ________ I had read about in_________.”

“I see that your firm is now going to_______.”

“I understand that one of your major initiatives for the year is ______.”

“At your website I had seen__________.”

3. Hint at Your Possible Value Proposition

You want to tailor your PVP to their world, further tying everything together everything else we’ve covered,

“We specialize in working with ________, in helping them to deal with the issue of_______.”

“In working with other ________, we have been able to help them_____.”

“With other ______ in the same situation, we have been able to _______.”

4. Suggest More Possible Value

Contingent on Moving to Questioning This is the step where you build upon your PVP and begin to ask questions specifically tailored to their responses/situations/questions of you.

“I’ve got a few ideas that might be of some value to you regarding_____, and I’d like to ask a few questions….”

“We might have a few options that could possibly be a fit for you as well. If I’ve reached you at a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions to see if I could provide you with some information…”

“We’ve been able to repeat these results with over 220 companies, and with a few questions we could determine if it would be worth it for you to take a look at some information…”

“Depending on where you are in your selection process, we might have some options worth taking a look at.”

More Possible Ending Phrases

“…see if we should talk further.”

“…determine if it’s something you’d like to take a look at.”

“…find out if it might be of some value to you.”

“…see if it might be an option worth considering.”

Examples

Let’s look at some full examples.

“Hi Dr. Moeller, I’m Stephen Drury with Smile Marketing. I noticed the coupons you are running in the school paper, and spoke with your office manager about some of the marketing you are doing to build your practice. We have helped other pediatric dentists cut their cost of new patient acquisition by 50% on average, while increasing their number of new patients by 25% within six months. Depending on what your goals are, we might have a few options worth taking a look at.”

“Dan, I’m Karen Browning with Integrated Software. I was at your website and downloaded your report from the new book on managed healthcare. In speaking with Kelly, your marketing assistant, I understand that you’re exploring options to streamline the steps it takes to do your online follow-up with those types of leads. We’ve had a few other publishing clients who were using five to ten different programs to manage the various aspects of their online marketing and sales. We’ve managed to replace all of these programs with just one, cutting their software costs, saving hours of time, and in some cases, doubling their online book sales. I’d like to ask a few questions to see if this might be something worth taking a look at.”

“Heather, I’m Kyle Johnston with Personnel Solutions. I saw your Twitter posting mentioning how many unqualified applications you had to go through the other day. We specialize in reaching high-level managers in your industry who otherwise might not be looking for positions. Recruiters who use our career postings tell us that the candidates they attract are better-qualified — which saves them hours per week by not having to deal with applicants who would never be considered.”

“Hi Jack, I’m Zack Krandle with Hometown Construction. In reviewing some of the reports from the city permits department, I came across some of the properties that your firm manages. We have a good relationship with the inspectors here in town; we know their tendencies, and specialize in working with landlords whose properties failed building inspections and fix them so they pass. If this is a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions. ”

“”Mr. Prospect, I’m ______ with__________. In reading your company blog, I saw that there have been some challenges with customer deliveries over the past few months. We specialize in working with businesses that ship with UPS, Federal Express and DHL, helping them take advantage of the guaranteed refunds the carriers offer for late delivery. We’ve been able to help most of our clients get refunds ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars per year, depending on shipping volumes. If I’ve reached you at a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions to see if it would be worth our while to talk further.”

“Mr. Prospect, I’m _____with____. I was speaking with your business manager and understand that a growing part of your non-insurance business is paid by credit card — and you’ve recently had your transaction fees raised. We’ve worked with a number of auto repair shops, by helping them cut some obscure credit card processing fees they weren’t even aware they were paying – thereby allowing them to keep a greater percentage of every ticket. We might be able to do the same for you; I’d like to ask a few questions to see if I could provide you more information.”

Follow this process, borrow from these examples and you’ll make your calls Smart, and create more interest!